SNN December 2018

KALEIDOSCOPE Q&A
JOSEPH DE THIERRY
In July 2015, Joseph de Thierry’s life changed forever. He fell from a 6m high fence and landed on his back and neck. He twisted his
spinal cord and fractured his spine at C3/C4. It was the worst time of his life and he went to some pretty dark places. Now two years
on, de Thierry has trained hard to begin walking with crutches and also to return to work. Joseph (46), who has lived in Auckland since
his debilitating injury, has turned his attention to helping others with an SCI (and other personal trauma) to see how they can still live an
independent and fulfilling life.
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How have NZST and Kaleidoscope helped you on your journey?
I deal with Lesley [Jones]. She is awesome. Anytime I am feeling
down, I talk to her and she is there to pick me up and help me
understand if there is anything I am doing wrong. She has been
a great motivator and has been a mother for me in many ways. I
can’t speak highly enough of the Kaleidoscope programme. The
team gave me the motivation to get back into work. I honestly
would not be where I am at right now without their support. Their
support systems were so valuable for me. For the last four/five
weeks I have been on crutches and I have been trying to get out of
my wheelchair as much as I can. It is a new thing for me. I have
the strength and balance to walk with crutches now; it is another
positive thing that has happened. I kept stretching and training and
made some really good progress. It is amazing what you can do
with encouragement and if you keep going.
How did you get back into work?
Through the company that looks after me – Royal District Nursing
Service New Zealand (RDNSNZ). They are carers and are
supplied. They look after me. They asked me if I wanted to do
some work. I had been talking to patients and clients about life
after injury and I sat back and thought why not? It has been good
fun. It is flexible. It is casual right now and not full time; they call
me when they need me, when they have special needs people who
suffer a spinal cord injury. I can hopefully help them through the
process or give them some ideas on how I adjusted to a normal
life, or getting back to some sort of normality.
What advice do you offer people in this frame of mind?
I bring up different ways of dealing with things. At the beginning
you can go to dark places and that is normal. Even I went to some